


Flu Season

by Gh0stWithTheM0st



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 21:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20803565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gh0stWithTheM0st/pseuds/Gh0stWithTheM0st
Summary: Kelley offers a small smile as she meets Emily’s eyes. Emily looks at her with both hesitation and confusion, like Kelley wasn’t really there and it was all a part of a fever dream. She was sick after all and being a little delusional would explain the relief she felt wash over her when she saw Kelley at her door. Would it explain the sudden dizziness and chill down her spine even though she was sweating? She would have to WebMD it.





	Flu Season

**Author's Note:**

> hi so i've never done this before!!! like many others, the sheer lack of content drove me to put out some of my own. this has been bouncing around in my brain for a couple days and i decided to actually write it up and post. apologies in advance for any inaccuracies or just ya know, bad writing? ok thanks enjoy

Flu Season

It’s 9:03 in the morning on a Friday during offseason when Kelley groans and turns towards the perpetrator that disrupted her dreams, her phone that she should have put on Do Not Disturb before falling asleep. She wants to recoil from the brightness of the screen in the dark room of her Atlanta apartment, but the influx of notifications on her screen force her to adjust her eyes. One in particular. In between several group text notifications from Alex and Allie talking nonsense, a few emails from her coach, and some Snapchats from Erin is a message from Morgan Brian.

This must have been one of the only times Moe has ever texted her individually. Sure, she had her group text ‘Georgia Peaches’ consisting of her, Morgan, and Sonnett but it was rare to hear from _just_ Moe. Kelley quickly opens the text.

[9:03 iMessage: Morgan Brian]: _Hey Kel, not sure if you know but Sonny has been fighting some sort of flu for the past couple days. I’ve been checking in on her but I’m about to catch a flight to CHI in an hour, any chance you could maybe go by and see if she’s still kickin? _

Kelley’s eyes scan the message and quickly sits up in bed. This explains the distance between her and Sonnett lately that has been bothering her more than she’d like to admit. They were friends. _Good friends_, she kept telling herself. They had both been in Atlanta for the past couple weeks enjoying the rare time off from both their club teams and the national team. Kelley made an effort to meet up with the young defender, with or without the presence of Brian. Coffee on a few mornings (and of course, avocado toast for Sonny), take-out on a weeknight neither of them could muster up the energy to cook, and even a Brave’s game. These moments outside of the context of soccer were special to Kelley. She began collecting them, holding onto them for herself. There was a side to Sonnett she rarely got to see in the presence of their national team members. A side that was still just as energetic and silly, but also soft and relaxed. It was like Emily didn’t need to play the role of entertainer and could finally just sit back and be on the receiving end of whatever they were doing. Kelley harbored these types of moments and found it hard to tear her eyes away from Sonnett doing things that weren’t soccer. Unloading dishes in a borrowed Stanford t-shirt in Kelley’s kitchen while humming, cracking a beer for herself and Kelley before sitting down next to her on the couch, navigating downtown Atlanta while singing along to whatever was on the radio – normal people things. Things Kelley never had the luxury of witnessing at camps or in the many hotels they’ve stayed at while traveling with the team. Yep, just _good friends_, she repeats to herself more often than not when experiencing these small moments that at the same time felt huge.

She shoots a quick text back to Moe:

[9:05]: _Absolutely. I figured something was up when she gave me 0 feedback on the memes I’ve been sending her. Have a safe flight, I’ll keep an eye on the kid._

As she gets up and begins to get ready for the day ahead of her she mentally makes a list in her head of things that make her feel better when she’s sick. You know, in case Sonnett doesn’t keep sick supplies at her Atlanta apartment, she’s rarely there anyway. Even if she did spend more time there, Kelley doubts Sonnett would be the type to take care of herself anyway. The girl doesn’t even own a microwave. She considers sending a quick text to Lindsey to see if there was something in particular she should bring Sonny, but decides against it. For some reason, she wants to keep her time with the blonde to herself, even if it’s just running over to see if she’s doing okay. No, she would figure Emily Sonnett out herself.

X

_Soup…ginger-ale…Gatorade…tissues…_

Kelley wanders down the aisles of CVS for what feels like hours trying to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. She throws in DayQuil, NyQuil, that chest rub that made you breathe better, and some Ritz Crackers on top of the rest of her haul. While she checks out with the elderly woman at the front of the store, she scans the row of sweets that border the check-out counter. A grin akin to the Cheshire cat forms on the Kelley’s face. _Junior fucking Mints_. She grabs two boxes and tosses them onto the rest of the items, the check-out lady giving her a puzzling look at the way Kelley’s eyes lit up at the sight of the candy.

Two weeks prior, Kelley, Moe, and Emily were at the Atlanta Cinemark on a Wednesday night after grabbing dinner at one of their favorite local spots. They were seeing Toy Story 4 which was definitely not Kelley’s choice but she couldn’t say no to the two younger players. More like she couldn’t say no to the way Emily’s puppy dog eyes were pulling at her heartstrings as the younger girl tugged on her sleeve. She rolled her eyes and let out a “Fine. But you’re buying the popcorn.” The two squealed and dragged Kelley toward the concessions. After shuffling into the back row of the theater it became apparent that Morgan would be the one sitting in the middle, leaving Kelley a little disappointed to say the least. The previews began to roll and everyone was content with their snacks and dimming their phones, ready for the movie to start. The calm atmosphere went to hell when Emily spotted the Junior Mints Kelley had snuck in under her Underarmor hoodie. Her eyes widened cartoonishly as she aggressively stuck her hand out across Morgan’s body towards Kelley’s lap with pleading eyes.

Kelley obliged and shook out a couple Junior Mints into the warm palm of her friend, steadying it with her own as she poured out the candy. She watched from her peripheral as Sonnett’s face grew content in the soft glow of the theatre as she chewed. _Get a grip_ she told herself as she tore her eyes away from Sonnett and back to the screen. This happened three more times until finally midway through the movie Moe had had enough.

“Get up. Switch with me,” Moe told Emily as she stood up and looked at the blonde defender pointedly.

Sonnett looked small in that moment, like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Nonetheless, she took her friends seat and settled in next to Kelley. They shared the Junior Mints until they were gone. They also shared the armrest. Even though they were both wearing hoodies and only a sliver of their forearms were even touching, Kelley swore she felt her arm burning. She wanted to pull it away but also wanted to keep it there forever. Torn, she left it until the end of the movie and gave it a quick shake as they got up when the movie ended. Pins and needles subsided slowly. Her ‘_good friends’_ mantra began again in her head. She should’ve never brought those Junior fucking Mints.

X

It’s when Kelley arrives at Sonnett’s that she realizes she might have overdone it. Two fully filled sacks of groceries sit on each hip as she trudges toward Sonnett’s unit. _Not a big deal. Totally would’ve done this for Alex or Allie. Maybe not Allie but definitely Alex. It’s what friends do. Just being a good friend here._ She shakes these thoughts from her brain as she finally reaches apartment #412 and gives the door a hard knock.

Kelley’s mouth goes dry and her heart aches a little at the sight that answers the door in front of her. There before her stood Emily Sonnett in a form that seems so unnatural and unfamiliar. Her normally bright blue-ish grey eyes are barely visible under heavy, red-rimmed eyelids. Her nose and cheeks are red like she spent an entire afternoon in the sun without sunscreen. She looks warm, forehead a little damp from what Kelley assumes to be a fever. She has on a red Portland Thorns tee, a pair of black Adidas joggers and mismatched socks with her blonde hair thrown up haphazardly into a messy bun. Sonnett looks tired and unsteady on her feet, like this was the first time she’s had the energy to complete a task as daunting as answering the front door. Kelley silently thanks God for having her hands pre-occupied with the supplies from CVS, or else she might’ve enveloped Emily into her arms upon the sight of her.

Seeing the confusion on her face, Kelley swallows and clears her throat before Emily could question why Kelley was at her door.

“Sonny! Hi…you look…unwell. Here, let me come in.” Kelley moves past her and quickly sits the heavy bags on the counter, immediately shoving her suddenly tempted hands into the pockets of her sweats.

“Kel – what are you doing here, I –” starts Sonnett, who suddenly becomes more self-aware of the state of her apartment as Kelley takes in her surroundings. Dishes piled up in the sink, an inside-out sweatshirt and blanket strewn across the sofa whose pillows were half scattered on the floor, half drank bottles of water and what looked to be an empty box of Poptarts falling out of an overflowing trashcan. The blinds were closed and the TV was paused on some Netflix show Emily had been watching before Kelley knocked on the door.

“You’re sick. I know. Moe texted me. Although I must admit I’m a little disappointed you didn’t tell me yourself…” interrupts Kelley. “I would’ve been over here much sooner.”

Kelley offers a small smile as she meets Emily’s eyes. Emily looks at her with both hesitation and confusion, like Kelley wasn’t really there and it was all a part of a fever dream. She was sick after all and being a little delusional would explain the relief she felt wash over her when she saw Kelley at her door. Would it explain the sudden dizziness and chill down her spine even though she was sweating? She would have to WebMD it.

After taking a couple moments to glance at all the stuff Kelley had brought over, Emily meets her eyes again, this time with a smirk and a twinkle in her eye that was oh so familiar to Kelley. _There’s my girl_.

X

“Moe shouldn’t have texted you, really it’s not that bad, Kel,” claims Sonnett as she makes her way back to the couch, Kelley following.

Kelley lays a hand gently to the younger girls forehead to feel for a fever, she rationalizes. Definitely not because she just needs to touch her.

She grins slightly as Sonnett’s eyes try to gaze up at the hand on her forehead, her eyes slightly crossing at the attempt. _Fuck she was cute._

“Sure feels like you’re sick. You’re warm, kid. How long have you felt this bad?”

Sonnett groans and lays back into the couch. She sticks her feet on Kelley’s lap and points to a blanket on the other side of Kelley. Kelley snatches it and throws it over the blonde as she closes her eyes and rubs her temples.

“Since the day before yesterday. Wednesday? Maybe Tuesday. Moe has been in and out but she hasn’t brought me nearly as many things that must be in those bags. Seriously Kelley did you rob a drug store?” Emily asks with a sleepy, lopsided smile. “You’d be a bad robber…too loud.”

“Just some soup and like, other things sick people need...here let me put some on for you it’s almost lunch time.” Kelley responds as she lifts Sonnett’s legs off her to move towards the kitchen. She swears she hears Emily groan in protest at the loss of contact between the two.

“What kind of soup? Crackers?” mumbles Emily from the other room barely loud of enough for Kelley to hear. It sounds like she’s falling back asleep, and Kelley doesn’t blame her.

“Chicken noodle, yes crackers, I’m not a psychopath,” Kelley says as she finds a pot and a can opener amongst odds and ends in Emily’s cabinets.

“People say differently, you know.” Kelley doesn’t need to turn around and look across the kitchen island to know that Emily is wearing a classic shit-eating grin as she lays outstretched on the couch. Teasing Kelley about being a psycho on and off the field has become one of Sonnett’s favorite pastimes. Which to Kelley seems unfair because if anyone should take second place in being a psycho it’s Emily.

“Takes one to know one, Son..” she retorts as she sticks her tongue out in Sonnett’s direction. She thinks she’ll never get tired of the playfulness they have between the two of them.

Kelley busies herself with soup, then leaves it to heat as she moves on to clearing off the counters. She opens another trash bag and begins to collect the stray bottles of water and trash that’s gone unnoticed by the girl across the room who was under the weather. Before she can even make it back to the living room area where Sonnett had been laying down she hears light snores. She leaves the soup on the stove and twists the dial to simmer, it could wait.

Emily’s sleeping form was a sight to see. With Sonnett’s eyes closed, Kelley allows herself to stare at the younger girl. To Kelley, it feels like a privilege to see Emily like this. Her hands are behind her head with fingers woven into blonde hair, her lips slightly parted as she dozes off and dreams about whatever it is she dreams about. Kelley silently hopes the dreams she’s having are sweet. She gazes down Emily’s body and sees the blanket has been bunched towards the end of the couch, guessing she got hot and pushed it aside. Her top rides up slightly leaving a small sliver of pretty, pale skin exposed above the waistband of her joggers. Her right leg extended down the couch but the left is swung over the tops of the pillows on the inside of the couch. Mismatched socks cap off her feet, one white and one grey. Kelley catches herself smiling at this, _Sonny WOULD have mismatched socks. _

She could honestly lose track of time and watch her sleep for hours, but Kelley steels herself and forces herself to look away. However, she can’t make herself leave just yet. She couldn’t leave a vulnerable, sweet, sick Sonnett alone and asleep in an apartment that she can’t even lock behind her. What kind of friend would she be?

Instead Kelley puts herself to work. Acts of service is one of her love languages after all, she shrugs and then shakes her head to herself as she remembers what her other love language was when Allie made her take that dumb quiz. It was physical touch, which was _definitely_ not relevant to the situation at hand. She briefly wonders what Emily’s love language is and feels her face grow warm. Kelley busies herself by loading the dishwasher, wiping down every surface in the kitchen and living room. She Lysol’s everything. She puts away the medicine for later, sits a box of tissues on the coffee table near Emily’s sleeping body, tucks the two boxes of Junior Mints into the pantry, and places the rest of the items she brought in their respective areas. Kelley then collects the random articles of clothing strewn about and throws them in the washing machine.

She’s about to start on Emily’s bedroom when her senses bring her to a halt. Kelley steps back into the laundry room and inhales deeply. Waves of the detergent Emily uses hit her and Kelley swears she’s high. It’s almost alarming how much the detergent of a _good friend_ could effect her. She grips the side of the washing machine and steadies herself. It smells _so good_ in here. It’s almost exactly what Emily smells like, minus the perfume and deodorant she wears. And something that’s just purely Sonnett. But it’s almost identical and for that reason Kelley makes a mental note of the brand she uses in case she ever needs to, you know, buy it in the absence of Sonnett. It’s Gain, by the way.

Kelley drags herself from the laundry room and peeks into Emily’s room. She’s been in there before, but for some reason this seems invasive, Kelley thinks as she looks back to the sleeping form on the couch. She hasn’t stirred in at least an hour. It’s not like she’s going to snoop, right? She’d never do that. Kelley just wants to grab any trash in there and maybe make her bed. It’d be nice to wake up to that, right?

She goes for it.

Emily’s room is shockingly not that messy, Kelley thinks as she flips on the light. It’s clear that Emily prefers to live on the couch when she’s sick and not in her own room, something Kelley did as a kid when she got sick. There was something comforting about laying on the couch and having your mom or older sibling dote on you while skipping school. Kelley is suddenly glad she came over, since Emily didn’t have anyone with her now that Moe left town. Her bed is indeed unmade, an off-white comforter with light blue sheets look slept in and cozy. Emily’s got two empty glasses on her nightstand next to a book and a picture of her and her twin sister, Emma. They must be 5 or 6 in the picture but Kelley easily picks out which one is Emily. Her heart grows three sizes like the Grinch as she peers at the little Sonny in the frame. _Freaking adorable_. She gathers the cups to put in the dishwasher, two shirts from the ground, and a towel hanging over her desk chair to throw in the wash.

Kelley makes her bed and uses almost all her self-control to not just lay down in it and fall asleep herself. Emily’s room was so _Emily_. She had some Thorns memorabilia, pictures scattered around – some of her and Lindsey, many groups shots of the team, one of her parents. She had her laptop perched on her desk, nice speakers flanking both sides of her computer. A couple good books that Kelley has been meaning to read and might borrow herself. Her eyes stop on a slim photobooth strip that she immediately recognizes. There in the bottom two frames are Kelley and Emily. One with them looking unprepared at the camera, the next of Emily kissing Kelley’s cheek. Her heart pounds against her chest and she suddenly feels weak in the knees. She’s seen these photos before but never like this. Not in Emily’s room where she sleeps. Not while taking care of the younger girl she’s grown to lov- _like _so much. Kelley starts to think she’s been playing the fool too long as she stares at the photo of Emily kissing her. She wonders how long she’s been ignoring the inevitable. She needs to admit that she cares for Emily on a different level than she cares for Alex or her other friends. Yes, she would probably bring her friends soup, but clean their entire apartment? Inhale their detergent like some sort of drug addict? Ponder their love language?! “_Good friends, yeah right O’Hara.” _Kelley tears her eyes away from the photo and takes a deep breath as she begins to make her way out of Emily’s personal space. She would tidy up, wait for Sonnett to wake up, bid her farewell and sort through the feelings that are making her stomach twist in her own apartment. This was starting to not only be a sensory overload but an emotional one, too.

As Kelley moves to close the closest door that was ajar. She can’t help but notice some of the sweaters that have fallen off hangers. She neatly hangs them back on their hanger when she sees a flash of red and white clothing that looks like a USWNT jersey from the side. Kelley pulls it out and sees that is indeed a jersey from a time before Sonnett was getting call-ups to the national team. Before they were in each other’s lives. But no, it wasn’t just any jersey. It was a Kelley O’Hara jersey.

Kelley turned it over in her hands slowly, wondering if she should be surprised or not at all surprised that Emily had bought Kelley’s jersey long before actually meeting her. She giggles at the thought of a younger Emily rocking an O’Hara jersey, probably watching her play from a college bar. She wonders how many times she’s worn it. Smugly, Kelley brings the jersey out of the closet with her and over to Emily’s desk. She rifles through a drawer until she finds a black sharpie.

She neatly signs her signature on the back of the jersey and places it back on the hanger. Kelley returns the jersey to the closet, this time hanging it in direct sight on front of all of Sonnett’s other tops, with Kelley’s signature glaring. _Finally some ammunition_, she thinks as she returns to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind her. Kelley makes a mental note to buy a Sonnett jersey to mess with her, maybe beg her for an autograph at the next camp. Anything to land a smile on the blonde defender’s face.

X

It starts raining that afternoon as Emily’s tired eyes blink open and she sees Kelley sitting across from her on the couch looking at her phone, TV muted, lights off with the sound of rain in her ears. Emily thinks she’s dreaming still. She has no idea what time is it but it smells like soup and looks much cleaner in here than when she fell back asleep.

Sonnett nudges a foot towards Kelley, “What ya lookin’ at over there?”

“You’re up. Nothing. Just didn’t want to wake you with the TV…you actually looked peaceful for once,” quipped Kelley with a teasing expression on her face.

Emily sits up and moves closer to Kelley with a look of pure adoration and gratitude in her eyes.

_There’s no way Kelley O’Hara came over, made me soup, cleaned my apartment, and stayed to watch me sleep._

“You know you didn’t need to do this. I’m perfectly capab– ”

“I know. You told me that already,” Kelley says slightly frustrated with the blonde, a frown forming on her face. Why couldn’t she just accept that she _wanted_ to help?

“That’s not what I was going for Kel. I was going to say thank you.” Emily says with a low, way raspier than usual voice. Eyes turning towards a freckled face, Kelley now realizes Emily is looking at her like she personally hung the moon, the sun, and all the stars. And she would do it for her if she could.

Suddenly shy, Kelley breaks eye contact as she replies “It’s nothing. Happy to do it, Em.” Kelley starts playing with her hands.

It’s rare that Kelley calls her anything but “Sonnett” or “Sonny” and occasionally “kid”. She gets the rare “Em” in quiet moments when it’s just them, never in front of their friends. She’s said her name at night in the back of Ubers when they’ve both been drinking. She’s said it sleepily as she said goodnight during one time when they got to room together (before they were deemed to rile each other too much to be roommates again). Kelley called her Em on her 25th birthday when she personally delivered a cupcake with a card to her hotel room to wish her a happy birthday. The card still sits in the drawer on her bedside table, but Kelley doesn’t know that. It’s like “Em” or “Emily” was something sacred to Kelley, something saved for special moments that only belonged to them. It was a form of intimacy only they knew.

“Aren’t you scared of catching whatever I have?” questions Emily, breaking both their thoughts of what was actually going on here.

Kelley scoffs. “I haven’t been sick in years. Your germs have no effect on me. Seriously, I’m in perfect health like all the time.”

Emily raises an eyebrow, “Perfect health? Your ankles say otherwise.”

She was walking a fine line, Emily knew this. But riling up Kelley was too easy and too fun, to watch her nostrils flare and her eyes narrow. She liked it. It was how they interacted half the time, when they weren’t stealing glances at each other and overthinking every move the other made like it was a game of chess.

“Just for that I’m leaving you on your own,” Kelley feigns as she begins to get up off the couch. Sonnett quickly grabs her hands and tries to pull her back down until Kelley is staring down at her. Kelley can’t help but still and run a hand over the top of her blonde head, pushing back hair that’s flown out of her loose, messy bun.

“No, stay, please. Just watch one movie with me. I swear I won’t cough on you, or even breathe on you Kel. Plus, you said it, you don’t get sick. It’s raining Kelley, you can’t go out there! I take it back, you have perfect ankles!” quickly spills from Sonnett’s mouth as she hugs Kelley’s legs to her chest as if Kelley would _actually _leave her.

Kelley gives her a quick eyeroll and strokes the soft skin under her ear with her thumb as she smiles. “Pick a movie, dork.”

X

One bowl of soup each later, the two huddle under the blanket and Kelley wasn’t lying. She really wasn’t scared of catching Emily’s flu, in fact she was probably closer to her than she’s ever been. They settle on _Crazy, Stupid, Love_ and Kelley teases her about thinking Ryan Gosling is hot. This notion quickly gets shut down by Emily’s clear admiration for how cute and funny Emma Stone is, causing Kelley to raise an eyebrow in the darkness of the room. _Noted_.

Emily is digging into Kelley’s side as they lay on the couch, kind of in an awkward position where they both want to see the screen but also want to be close to each other.

“Ow Em, here just –” Kelley doesn’t finish her sentence, she just physically guides Emily down on her side and scooches behind her, propped up on an elbow. “See, now we can both watch and you won’t cause me bodily harm with your pointy little elbows.”

Sonnett’s at a loss for words. Sure, they’ve cuddled, kind of. They’ve never spooned. _God Lindsey and Rose are going to give me so much shit about this._ Her mind races and the movie is long forgotten; she knows it by heart anyway so she knows what scenes to laugh at. She wishes she could see Kelley’s face and if it displayed any sort of indication of what she might be feeling. Kelley’s has her right hand propped against her head in order to see over Sonnett and her left is across Emily’s stomach clutching a handful of the blonde’s shirt. Over the past few days, Sonnett’s been in a haze from the flu. She’s been groggy and barely awake, so her hyperawareness of Kelley’s proximity is sending her senses into overdrive.

Interrupting her thoughts, Kelley stirs from behind her and releases her shirt.

“I almost forgot!” she says excitedly as she hops over a very confused Emily.

Kelley slides across the kitchen floor in the socks she _might_ have borrowed from Emily while doing her laundry. She reaches the pantry and puts both boxes of Junior Mints behind her back before walking back to the couch.

“Guess.” She requests as Emily looks up at her with confusion.

“Mmmm….a puppy? A million dollars? Waffle house? The cure to my flu? I could keep going, really I could,” Sonnett says with humor and a slight air of impatience as she tries to paw at whatever Kelley had behind her back.

“Close your eyes.”

Emily does what she’s told. She feels Kelley slip a smallish rectangle into her hands and she hears the rattling of whatever’s inside of it.

“Junior mints!? When did you get these, they definitely weren’t in my pantry!” exclaims Emily. She really shouldn’t be surprised by Kelley anymore. It seems like the longer she knows her, the more she’s capable of. Even if it’s her favorite candy appearing out of thin air.

Kelley’s face shows just how proud she is to surprise Emily. She’s grinning again and briefly thinks that if she could make Emily this happy with a mere box of candy, imagine how many other ways she could surprise her and keep her smiling. It’s something she wanted to keep doing, she realizes. Kelley tells Emily she’ll never reveal her secrets, as if she didn’t just buy them hours earlier at a drug store. Emily accepts this answer and motions for them to resume their previous position.

They watch the movie, Kelley’s body draping over Emily’s, both making comments here and there until both their eyes start fluttering shut. Sleep slowly takes over both of them and their breaths become heavy and almost in sync. Before they could both give into the lull of rain, Emily slowly sits up and gazes down at the older girl. _So pretty_. She’s always thought Kelley was beautiful, but having her here and this close was something altogether different. She could see every freckle on her face, there were so many. She wanted to kiss all of them. Her “small crush” seems to get worse by the day. It was everything about her, it wasn’t even something she could put into words. Not yet anyways.

Emily shakes Kelley’s shoulder softly who lets out a “Hmmmm?” in response with her eyes still closed.

“Bed, Kelley. We aren’t sleeping on the couch, you’ll kick me off at some point and I’m the sick one, remember?” Emily tells her.

“Mmmmm,” Kelley responds sleepily with outstretched both hands, eyes still closed.

Emily takes both soft hands in hers and guides the sleepy girl to her room, pulls back the covers and puts Kelley on the left side before tucking her in. _Who’s taking care of who, again?_

She quickly dashes to the bathroom to shower, change the clothes she’s been in all day, and brush her teeth. For Kelley’s sake. As she climbs back into bed she finds Kelley has rolled to her side and her eyes open as she feels the weight of Sonnett getting situated back into the bed.

“Smell good,” states Kelley matter of factly as she nuzzles into Emily’s shoulder.

“Thanks Kel,” she replies, turning to face Kelley who is now inches away from her face. She could barely make out hazel-greenish eyes in the dark, but she knew they were there – she could feel them on her face.

“You know, between your world class skills on the pitch and your ability to conjure up soup and Junior Mints for me, you might be the closest thing to magic, Kelley O’Hara. Thanks for taking care of me today. Remind me to repay you, anything you want,” Emily’s tired voice drawls and Kelley gets goosebumps.

“Anything?”  


“I mean, anything feasible and legal, Kel.”

“You?”

Emily thinks she’s delirious, or Kelley’s delirious. Or they’re both _too_ tired. She must have misheard her. There’s no way this is happening.

“What about me,” Emily stammers.

“You know what I mean, Em. You. I want you. I have for a while.” Kelley doesn’t know where this bravery suddenly comes. Maybe it was cuddling her for an hour and half, sleeping in her bed, or the scent of her shampoo still in the air. She did it. It was out there. She kind of said it before she could chicken out, to be honest. _Good friends_, be damned.

Emily slow blinks and suddenly she feels like she’s falling, which can’t be possible because she’s in her bed and she also feels like she’s never been more still. She can see the worry on Kelley’s face. Like she crossed a line, like she might bolt at any moment. Kelley’s actually starting to shake and Sonnett grabs her wrist in an effort to anchor her to this moment. She can’t let her leave.

Instead of responding, since she simply just can’t find the words, Emily leans in a presses her lips to Kelley’s. Kelley freezes before she realizes this is really happening. She then absolutely melts into the taste of mint on Emily’s lips and brings her hands up to cup her face.

Emily could still taste the chocolate on Kelley’s lips and tongue from her favorite candy. It was the best thing Emily had ever tasted, hands down. Her entire body fills with warmth and she forces herself to pull back, still holding Kelley’s wrists.

Kelley’s hands leave Emily’s face but she intertwines their fingers instead, wanting to keep contact. Like if she isn’t touching her she might disappear entirely. 

“Yeah.” Emily states simply.

“Yeah?” Kelley responds with some confusion apparent on her face.

“I mean, yeah to your request. Me. You can have me. You know, if you want.”

Kelley lets out a sigh of relief and the corners of Emily mouth turn up into a soft smile Kelley can’t imagine living without. They had much to discuss, and they would. In the morning. Over coffee and cuddles and waking up slow in each other’s company. Something neither of them thought was possible, but at the same time always felt inevitable. The two spend the rest of the night wrapped up in each other’s arms, briefly arguing about who liked who first, before settling in and finally falling asleep.

Their friends would later tease them about dancing around the obvious for years. Kelley would claim that she was never obvious about her crush, eliciting an eye roll and loud protest from the all of the older teammates. “_The moment she got called up you were sunk, O’Hara!” _

For Emily, she received cautious advice from Horan, Rose, Sam and Mal. She knew they just cared about her and wanted her to be happy. They were relentless when it came to the teasing, they really were. When the _Body Issue_ released it was a field day for the crew, but at the end of the day it was the most supported Emily had ever felt in her life. Who knew one sick day would turn into one of the most important days of her life.

Still blissful from the soft, whispered declarations the night before, the two rose from bed feeling like entirely new people. Emily no longer has a tired look in her eyes, her fever finally broke and she has the same pep in her step as Healthy Sonnett. Kelley bumps her hip against Emily’s as they brushed their teeth in bathroom, catching each other’s eyes in the mirror and shyly looking away every time they found each other staring.

It’s in the kitchen when Kelley’s making her signature smoothies for breakfast that she pauses and sneezes. She’s about to shoot daggers at Sonnett, but she sneezes rapidly three more times. She feels a tickle in her throat. No, it can’t be. It’s been _years._ Sonny would be the one to break down her walls AND her immunity.

“You……” she starts, slowly moving towards Emily with an accusatory finger.

Kelley starts chasing Emily around the entire apartment as she shrieks and bouncing off furniture until Kelley finally has her pinned to her comforter on her bed.

“You got me sick! What do you have to say for yourself, Emily?” says Kelley almost out of breath from chasing the younger girl.

Emily looks up at her and Kelley just melts. She can’t be mad at her, probably won’t ever be able to.

“It was worth it though, right?” Emily questions, raising an eyebrow.

“Definitely worth it. So, so worth it, babe.” Kelley says before kissing her, again and again and again.


End file.
